learning new perspectives

Three weeks since I wrote anything on this blog. Hope some of you are still out there reading this.  It's been a challenge to juggle Ron's medical care (he's doing well) and my own creative life that came to a halt. I needed time away so in between his two appointments in Albuquerque I took off and went back east for a week. There was a nurse/helper who came in for a few days to help him until he decided he didn't need help. Family and friends phoned and visited so I felt fairly secure that he'd be alright. I felt a twinge of guilt before leaving, until someone who knows about caregivers said, "think about when you're on a plane and the flight attendant says, if there's an emergency, put your own oxygen mask on first, before trying to help others." That resonated with me and I put on my metaphorical mask and left. It was the best gift I could have given myself.

The weather was perfect and I did lots of walking, writing, eating. Met some new people and stayed in a comfortable place. I came back with a new perspective even though traveling yesterday was a huge and very long, drag. I was rerouted from Newark to Chicago to Dallas to Albuquerque where I had to wait two hours for the Taos shuttle to bring me home in an ancient van with a very casual driver! Very Taos! I got home late and without my one piece of checked luggage that still hasn't turned up today. Next trip I'll pack lighter and carry just an under-seat bag. I hate all that business of people shoving their over-stuffed bags into overhead bins (which I can't reach anyway). It takes so long now to deplane that I once missed a connection because of it.

it's here, it's here!
Just before I left, the book my essay is in, as well as photos (one on the cover, lower left) arrived. It was published in England by Solis Press and I missed the first book launch in Ireland at end of May. I'd really been planning to go, but life is what happens when you're making other plans.

My lengthy essay is called Spirit Socks and is about the related history of sock knitting in Taos as a valuable trade item with Mexico in the mid-1800's -- and my own experience kitting socks in the very place where the "factory" existed. There will be a USA launch at Wellesley College sometime this summer or fall and I hope to make it to that one. Meanwhile, you can learn more about the book on Amazon or directly from the publisher. I feel quite proud to be included in this collection that also includes human rights activists and scholars. Check it out.

Everything desireable is here already in abundance.
And the sea. The dark thing is hardly visible
in the leaves, under the sheen. We sleep easily
So I bring no sad stories to warn the heart.
            Linda Gregg
            (excerpt from A Dark Thing Inside the Day)